ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Noted Pakistan movement worker and member National Assembly, Begum Zari Sarfaraz, urged the youth to work hard for

Pakistan and not to miss even a slightest opportunity to serve the country.

She was addressing an independence day ceremony held here at the women campus of the International Islamic University (IIU).

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Rauf Engin Soysal, High Commissioner of Kenya Mishi Masika, Chairperson National Language Authority Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik, Chairperson Nazria Pakistan Council Zahid Malik, and IIU President Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui also addressed the gathering. A large number of faculty and students were present on the occasion.

Recalling her memoirs of the struggle for Pakistan, Ms Sarfaraz said that there was no education and no academic institutions 65 years ago when the women of the NWFP came out for the struggle of independence with strict cultural and other restrictions.

“We certainly have many flaws but the story of Pakistan is a success that has inspired many nations of the world struggling for independence,” she said.

Turkish Ambassador Rauf Soysal termed the 60 years of independence as “60 years of brotherhood between Pakistan and Turkey” and added that “our great leaders, Quaid-i-Azam and Ata Turk, have given us the spirit of living in the contemporary world with keeping our traditions alive”.

He appreciated Pakistan’s association with Turkey and said: “I feel one of the most privileged ambassadors in Pakistan.” The ambassador further stated that Pakistan and Turkey were capable of showing the way of peace and progress to the rest of the Muslim world.

Kinyan High Commissioner Ms Mishi Masika talked about the increasingly cordial relations between Pakistan and Kenya and said that as the gateway to Africa, Kenya values its relations with Pakistan to the highest extent.

She expressed her keen interest in the IIU and said that she will make maximum efforts to bring as many as Kinyan Muslims students to the IIU for Islamic studies.

Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik talked about the concept, movement and establishment of Pakistan and said that for understanding the reality of Pakistan the new generation should know the whole story of the miracle that came into being as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.